To impress the world with the conception he
had formed of the person of Christ was the mission of his life, and it
was in the carrying out of this mission that his remarkable
characteristics came into play. With a face and expression which
suggested the Apostle John, he exhibited in society a tact and address
which, at this period at least, did not compromise his religious
professions. Next to his interest in the Founder of Christianity was
his interest in human character, and his divination of the working of
men's minds was such that, according to Goethe, it produced an uneasy
feeling to be in his presence. Be it added that Lavater was in full
sympathy with the leaders of the _Sturm und Drang_ as emancipators
from dead formalism, and the champions of natural feeling as opposed
to cold intelligence. Such was the remarkable person with whom Goethe
was thrown into contact during a few notable weeks, and who has
recorded his impressions of him with the insight of a discerner of
spirits. As time was to show, they were divided in their essential
modes of thought and feeling by as wide a gulf as can separate man
from man, and in later years Lavater's compromises with the world in
the prosecution of his mission drew from Goethe more stinging comments
than he has used in the case of almost any other person.
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